Croatia 1-4 England
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier
Group Six
8pm, Wednesday 10 September 2008
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb
Modest Theo Walcott says he may have been the hat-trick hero for England against Croatia but the result was down to pure teamwork.
Walcott’s stunning three-goal show in Zagreb has got the whole nation talking and he is certain to be the subject of newspaper stories for many days to come.
But the Arsenal star, who is only 19 years old, reckons the headlines should focus on an amazing all-round team display.
“It wasn’t just down to me, the whole team was brilliant and we showed to the fans and to all of England how strong we are,” said the Three Lions hero.
“It’s been a long 10 days but we’ve been together and we have improved. I didn’t play with any fear and nor did anyone.
“It was absolutely brilliant, the whole team was fantastic. To get the goals we did and the result shows how big we are as a unit.
“It was all smiles after the final whistle, you should have seen the dressing room. The lads are buzzing.
“All the players dealt with the pressure really well. We knew what had happened in the games before but we just had to forget about that and take the positives from the game against Andorra. We did that and it was a brilliant result.”
Walcott took David Beckham’s place in England’s starting line-up but revealed how the LA Galaxy midfielder played a major part in his performance.
“Becks told me to be a bit more greedy in the box and I will get goals," revealed Walcott. "In the end he said I was a bit too greedy!
“He has been absolutely brilliant to me and he just gave me so much confidence. He’s given me praise and it’s unbelievable coming from David. I watched him when I was younger. To train with him, to be around him, to talk to him just spurs me on and gives me a big lift.
“But as I say it was a fantastic performance from the whole team so get the result and play like that bodes well for the future.”
England
1 David James, 2 Wes Brown, 3 Ashley Cole, 4 Gareth Barry, 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 John Terry (14 Matthew Upson, 89), 7 Theo Walcott (17 David Beckham, 86) 8 Frank Lampard, 9 Emile Heskey, 10 Wayne Rooney, 11 Joe Cole (16 Jermaine Jenas, 51)
Goals
Walcott 26, 59, 82, Rooney 63
Substitutes 12 Paul Robinson, 13 Glen Johnson, 15 Stewart Downing, 18 Jermain Defoe
Manager
Fabio Capello
Croatia
1 Stipe Pletikosa, 3 Josip Simunic, 4 Robert Kovac, 5 Vedran Corluka, 6 Danijel Pranjic, 7 Ivan Rakitic, 9 Mladen Petric, 10 Niko Kovac (c), 11 Darijo Srna, 14 Luka Modric, 18 Ivica Olic (8 Mario Mandzukic, 73)
Goals
Mandzukic 78
Substitutes
12 Vedran Runje, 2 Ivica Krizanac, 13 Nikola Pokrivac, 15 Dario Knezevic, 16 Jerko Leko, 17 Ivan Klasnic
Manager
Slaven Bilic
Match Officials
Referee Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
Assistant Referees Martin Balko and Roman Csabay (Slovakia)
Team colours
Croatia
Blue shirts, blue shorts, blue socks
England
White shirts, white shorts, white socks
GK: Sky blue shirt, navy blue shorts, sky blue socks